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<title>New Lutheran High School, St Charles, IL</title>
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<description>Spiritual reflections that can be helpful for places along the way in your journey of Christian discipleship.</description>
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<title>Acceptance</title>
<description><![CDATA[We've all had conversations with people about insecurity and have likely felt unsure of ourselves in certain situations.  In a recent conversation I had with a friend, she addressed her feelings of inadequacy.  This individual is highly talented artistically, and she shared with me her impression that many artistic people are insecure. While I can't verify the accuracy of that statement, I do see how it would be very understandable for artists to experience self-doubts since their worth is determined by how much others accept and honor their work. Regardless of innate talent, their value becomes subjective.  That puts one in a very vulnerable situation and could readily breed uncertainty.

Yet, artists aren't the only ones who are subject to others determining their worth.  No matter what our calling might be, there is always someone who pronounces their judgment over how well we do.   Their opinion seems to label us as being superior, inferior, or anywhere in between.  While it's true that some opinions matter more than others, any of them can detrimentally affect our well being.

That vulnerability makes it all the more wonderful to realize that our Heavenly Father doesn't judge us by what we do or how well we are able to do it.  Instead, God uses the measure of His love that He shows us in Jesus Christ.   His sacrifice has transformed us from lost sinners to people who become heirs of eternal life and enjoy kinship with our Maker.  The cross is what erases insecurity and makes us completely acceptable in God's eyes.

That message of reassurance speaks to us especially when we become overwhelmed by a task or fearful that our skills will not be able to meet the challenge placed before us.  Then we think about the humble, ordinary people in the Bible who were limited and handicapped, yet God chose them for various purposes.   He didn't make a practice of picking the most important, the most powerful, or the best known.  In fact, when He did choose those with a seemingly higher status, He first humbled them and transformed them into people of faith who would depend on Him.  Mostly, God called the ordinary ones to do His work.  Then He guided, helped, and nurtured them along the way.  His support yielded very extraordinary results.

So, whatever the challenge of this day, it is wonderful to know that God's judgment of us is based not on our doings, but according to the merit of the One who suffered in our stead.   Jesus' death and resurrection has declared us to be worthy.  God's love has made us people of value.  Then, in the midst of that divine affirmation, we are once again sent out to do the work God gifted us to do.  With His complete acceptance, our insecurity can vanish.  Then what we do for others becomes significant and worthwhile as God uses us, humble ordinary people, to accomplish His extraordinary work.

<center><b><i>Insecurity is vanquished by God's accepting love.]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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